http://lauren.vortex.com/ en-us lauren@vortex.com 2012-01-28T12:03:53-08:00 hourly 1 2000-01-01T12:00+00:00 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000935.html In the mere four days since Google announced significant changes to their privacy policies and terms of service (with a follow-up posting a couple of days later), the Net has been abuzz with associated criticisms and discussions. I had hoped... 935@http://lauren.vortex.com/ 2012-01-28T12:03:53-08:00 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000934.html With some fanfare, Twitter announced yesterday that they were implementing a mechanism for IP-based censorship of tweets on a country by country basis -- triggered by demands made by individual countries themselves. It's been accurately noted that Twitter (like most... 934@http://lauren.vortex.com/ 2012-01-27T19:27:32-08:00 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000933.html By now you no doubt are aware of the massive (and probably unprecedented in terms of Internet scope) international seizure by the U.S. of the Megaupload file sharing service and many of its principal characters. Word is that famed attorney... 933@http://lauren.vortex.com/ 2012-01-21T11:04:15-08:00 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000932.html I spend a great deal of my time dealing with issues that reside within the intersection of technology policy with social and public policy concerns. Privacy, security, and a host of other issues fall squarely into this zone. They're complex... 932@http://lauren.vortex.com/ 2012-01-20T09:42:40-08:00 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000931.html There's a lot of understandable enthusiasm about today's array of anti-SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act), anti-PIPA (Protect IP Act) demonstrations and protests. But there's a real risk as well. When the big home page banners come down, and the site... 931@http://lauren.vortex.com/ 2012-01-18T11:59:59-08:00 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000930.html A number of major Internet sites have announced plans to "blackout" this coming Wednesday -- that is, block users from most or all access to their normal site resources -- to protest against SOPA/PIPA for up to 24 hours. Since... 930@http://lauren.vortex.com/ 2012-01-16T12:11:17-08:00 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000929.html Regular readers know that I am not a fan of Facebook. I've long been (and continue to be) a critic of their privacy practices and related implementations. I don't actively participate in Facebook, other than with an essentially empty account... 929@http://lauren.vortex.com/ 2012-01-14T14:39:00-08:00 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000928.html Wow. I haven't seen such a flurry of consternation and complaints since Coca-Cola replaced their original formula with "New Coke" decades go. The Net's abuzz with the sound of SPYW (Search, plus Your World - perhaps an unfortunate acronym) --... 928@http://lauren.vortex.com/ 2012-01-13T12:17:54-08:00 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000927.html In Thinking the Unthinkable About SOPA a couple of days ago, I touched on the concept of splash pages, banners, and other "in your face" mechanisms to help get the word out -- beyond our usual "preaching to the choir"... 927@http://lauren.vortex.com/ 2012-01-10T12:33:26-08:00 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000926.html Blog Update (January 10, 2012): Banners, Splashes, and KILLSOPA.ORG With key votes on SOPA -- the Stop Online Piracy Act -- likely to occur in the very near future, we now find ourselves forced into at least considering courses of... 926@http://lauren.vortex.com/ 2012-01-08T15:14:39-08:00 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000925.html A number of people have been asking me about the Google Chrome "paid links" controversy that seems to have erupted. A bit of thought would have revealed what was likely going on -- without all the drama -- but let's... 925@http://lauren.vortex.com/ 2012-01-03T14:57:16-08:00 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000924.html As 2011 closes out, and 2012 enters the spotlight for its ephemeral closeup, we can all probably agree that an enormous number of pressing issues continue to await reasonable resolution, and in many cases even rational consideration. One explanation for... 924@http://lauren.vortex.com/ 2011-12-31T11:03:23-08:00 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000923.html Happy Holidays, all! This is especially the time of year when we should take stock of what we have to be thankful for. And perhaps it's also a time to consider how much worse things could be if we don't... 923@http://lauren.vortex.com/ 2011-12-25T13:57:58-08:00 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000922.html Update: Not supporting SOPA is very different than opposing SOPA! Don't be fooled by Go Daddy's public reversal on SOPA! As the old TV character Gomer Pyle used to say, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!" Faced with an Internet revolt and boycott... 922@http://lauren.vortex.com/ 2011-12-23T11:22:01-08:00 http://lauren.vortex.com/archive/000921.html Blog Update (December 23, 2011): Don't be fooled by Go Daddy's public reversal on SOPA! Please Take the No-Go Daddy Pledge! Unless you've been living under a massive pile of ancient floppy disks, by now you're pretty well cognizant of... 921@http://lauren.vortex.com/ 2011-12-22T12:41:15-08:00